Electric steam iron



Jan. 11, 1955 E. P. SCHREYER ELECTRIC STEAM IRON Filed July 2, '1952,

N rlll United States Patent O ELECTRIC STEAM IRON Edward P. Schreyer,Ridgefield, Conn.

Application July 2, 1952, Serial No. 296,871

17 Claims. (Cl. 38-77) The present invention relates to electric steamirons of the in-built boiler type.

A general object of the invention is to provide aii electric steam ironthat can be made with economy of materials and workmanship, with aminimiuni number of parts, and in which access is had to the fillingopening without resort to or manipulation of screw plugs or other hotparts, without resort to tools and without the need for a separatefilling funnel or other auxiliary equipment, in which blankingoperations for forming the steam dome apart from the boiler, orsoldering, welding or brazing operations for installing such steam domeupon the boiler, are dispensed with as is also the need for any fillingopening distinct from such steam dome.

As conductive to a clear understanding of a significant but morespecific feature of the invention, it is noted that where such irons,including the boiler structure thereof, are of aluminum or aluminumalloy, it is important that any water remaining in the boiler after usebe removed before the iron is put away as otherwise there isconsiderable likelihood of corrosion.

It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provide anelectric steam iron structure such as one of aluminum, which not onlyaffords convenience in charging its boiler with water and doing sosafely, ev en while the iron is hot, but which also affords facilitiesfor readily pouring out any remaining water after use of the iron,without the likelihood of trapping water that subsequently could lead tocorrosion within the boiler.

One of the important features of the invention is the incorporation ofthe boiler filling opening in the steam dome. To this end, the fillingopening coacts with a movable closure to form the steam dome, so thatupon opening of said closure, water may be poured through the region ofthe steam dome into the boiler. Means is provided to afford avapor-tight seal between the filling opening and the closure in order torender the steam dome leak-tight.

insulating handle means, desirably the handle for manipulating the ironitself, may be hingedly mounted for raising the closure to permitfilling, and means is provided for latching the handle to normalposition after filling, in which the closure is in operative position.Resilient means carried by the handle retains the closure against itsseat, not only to render the steam dome leak tight in use, but to permitit to vent whenever steam pressure tends to accumulate in the boiler.

While within the scope of a broader aspect of the invention, the fillingopening of the electric steam iron could be in the form of a fillingwell such as shown in my prior Patent 2,475,572, granted July 5, 1949,with the closure for the steam dome releasably seated at a siliconeplastic gasket, it is preferred, more especially where the boiler is ofaluminum, so to form the boiler top that the filling opening will servealso as a discharge opening for pouring out therethrough any `remainingwater after use, thereby to guard against the danger of corrosion ofsuch boiler due to storing it away with water in it.

To this end the filling opening, according to one feature, instead ofbeing a well extending downward into the boiler body, rises from thegeneral area of the top of the boiler, preferably in the form of anupturned frusto-conical wall stamped as a unitary part of the boilershell and presenting an opening through the circular rim at its top, sothat it serves as the outlet of a funnel when the iron is inverted topermit emptying without the danger of any water-trapping as would belikely were it attempted to empty through a depressed well. Where thecombined filling and discharge opening rises from the top of the boiler,as is preferred, the closure therefor which with the upstanding wall,forms the steam dome, may be in the form of a cap, the side wall ofwhich carries and encompasses a ring, preferably of silicone plastic toafford the seal.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of various possibleembodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. l is a view in longitudinal cross section through a preferredembodiment of the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view on a somewhat largerscale, taken on line 2 2 of Fig. l,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary bottom plan View of a detail of the steam ironon a smaller scale,

gig. 4 is a sectional detail taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 1, an

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, the iron comprises a boiler B which maybe of any suitable sheet metal but is desirably of aluminum andcomprises a body shell 10, the rim 11 of which encompasses thedownturned flange 12 of the floor plate 13. The body shell is laminatedto present an inner brazing layer 10 for ovenwelding or brazing to thefloor plate 13 in the assembly operation. Y

Preferably the floor plate 13 extends upward at its rear portion 14 toengage the side and top of the body shell 10. The body shell thusaffords room to the rear of the floor plate 13 for accommodating thethermostat 15 mounted on the rear part of the sole plate 16, theoperating rod 17 therefor rising through a cover plate 18 affixed at 19to close an opening 2f) in the rear of the body shell 10. Rod 17 iscontrolled by a suitable knob 21 accessible from the rear part of theiron for adjusting the temperature to the fabric being ironed.

In a corresponding groove or depression 22 in the upper face of the soleplate 16 rests the electric heating element'23 which is preferablystaked in position as at 24. The boiler floor may be secured to the soleplate by screws 19 and bolt 25, the latter accessible through acorresponding aperture in the bottom of the sole plate 16 and threadedinto associated nut 26. Thus the heater 23 is in heat conductingrelation to both the sole plate and .the boiler.

Rising from near the forward end of the boiler is the steam tube 2.7,the reduced lower end 28 of which is oven-b razed into a correspondinghublet 29 formed in the boiler floor and which affords a leak tight sealwith the sole plate 16 by means of a silicone plastic ring 39 about thelower end of the steam tube and against the top face of the sole plate.Since the boiler is charged with water at the opening 31 about the upperpart of the steam tube 27, means are provided to prevent such waterpassing into the open upper end of the steam tube. This may beaccomplished by the simple expedient of seating a closure cap 32 uponthe top of the steam tube, said cap having a stepped flange 33 to seatat shoulder 34 upon the upper rim of tube 27, the upper and reduced part35 of the cap flange having a number of small apertures 36 therein.

The sole plate has a circular depression 38 in the lower face thereofthat has communication with the lower end of the steam tube 27, anddischarges the steam to the fabric being ironed, by way of ports orslits 39 in closure plate 40 for the depression, which is detachablysecured in place as by an upstanding screw 41 threaded into the bottomof the sole plate 16.

The steam tube 27 may be positioned within a sleeve 42 .rising from theboiler floor, over the upper end of which is a bathe plate 43 extendingacross the entire area of the forward half of the boiler and having abordering fiange 44 oven-heat soldered or brazed to the body shell bymeans of the inner flowable lamination 10 thereof.

ln the embodiment shown, the boiler filiing conformation performs alsothe function of an effective emptying conformation. To this end thefilling conformation constitutes a frusto-conical Wall 45 rising fromthe upper part of the boiler as an integral part of the boiler shellstamping, the upper rim 31 of said shell rising wall being the fillingand emptying opening.

The closure 46 for the opening 31 is carried by a movable arm with aninsulating handle, preferably movable in an are. The handle H of theiron itself is preferably hinged to serve that purpose.

Effectively to mount the closure and for convenience and economy ofconstruction, the iron handle is made of two matching hollow moldings 47of plastic which are in face-to-face abutment along the medianlongitudinal line of the handle assembly and are assembled together byappropriate fastener rods 48 transversely through corresponding openingstherefor, each handle half being a unitary part of a corresponding baseplate 49. The handle structure may be mounted by means of a hinge ortrunnion 50 at its rear, bearing in a bracket 51 constituting part ofthe boiler. The handle has a beveled rear end, as shown, hollowed out,so that when tilted back to rest upon the heel h of the iron, it willaccommodate the protruding knob 21.

The mount for the closure of the filling structure may be a disk orplate 52 lodged at its periphery in corresponding grooves 53 in theinterior of the hollow handle structure in which it is slidablypositioned a rod, desirably a hollow rivet 54, axially of the closureand welded thereto. A spiral spring 55 interposed between said holderplate 52 and a corresponding peripheral circular shoulder 56 urges theclosure to seated position. The closure is desirably a sheet metal capthat carries a yielding ring 58, preferably of silicone plastic, lodgedwithin its peripheral depending bead 57 resilieiitly to seat against theouter surface of the frusto-conieal wall 45 under the pressure of spring55.

The handle is releasably retained in closed position by a latch,preferably comprising an upstanding rod 59 slightly rearward of thefront leg of the handle and bearing in a bushing 6G within the base 49of the handle H. The latch has an operating thumb piece 61 mounted uponred 59. Rod 59 has an elongated rounded head 62 at its lower end whichenters a keyway opening in steel plate 63 that is retained in a closeddepression 64 within the top of the boiler by means of an aluminum disk65 welded peripherally Within depression 64. A coil spring 66' about thestem 59 and about the protruding end of bushing 6l), is interposedbetween the base 49 and a washer 67 against which it reacts to urge itthrough the opening of washer 65 against steel plate 63.

The steam tube 27 is desirably not axially of the filling opening 31,but its upper end is near the rim of said opening at one side as shown,to afford a wide space with respect to the opposite side of the rim foradequate room in filling. Desirably also a bafe wall 69 of width littlegreater than that of the steam tube extends downward slightly from thetop of the boiler shell to intercept any water that might otherwisesplash through apertures into the steam tube.

In the handling of the iron, some persons have a tendency to slam thehinged handle H down so forcefully as to distort or break the boiler ifmade of thin stock, as is ordinarily preferred. Such distortion orbreakage would occur at the region of the latch where the impact inforceful closure is substantially uncushioned. To remedy thisdiificully, a sheet metal tube 72 is interposed as a strut between thedoor 13 of the boiler and the floor of the depression 64 to take thethrust of such impact. That tube may be positioned at a correspondingindentation 73 in the floor of the boiler, extends through acorresponding aperture in bafiie 43, and is preferably ovenwelded inplace at both ends. For economy and convenience, the tube 72 may be bentfrom a flat sheet with its longitudinal slit or opening 74 preferablyextending forwardly, as shown, for ready expulsion of water in emptyingthe iron.

The strut 72 and the floor 13 of the iron are preferably electropositivewith respect to the lamination 10 of the boiler shell, so as to localizethereat any minor corrosion that might occur while the boiler is Watercharged and especially while hot and in use.

The strut 72 has a further advantage of correctly positioning the oorplate within the boiler shell so that the flange 12 is properlyregistered with respect to the rim of the shell.

A free passage is provided to convey downward from baffle plate 43 anywater that might otherwise remain trapped above that baffle plate andthus give a false indication of water level at the washer 71 around thesteam tube 27, which washer serves as a marker readily visible throughthe filler opening 31 to indicate when to stop filling. This result isattained by providing an upstanding ledge 7S along the width of the rearend of baille plate 43 and providing a longitudinal groove '76 extendinghorizontally or inclined slightly downward from the steam tube 27 tostrut 72 so that water upon bafe plate 43 and dammed by ledge 75, willflow along groove 76 for escape through slot 74 to combine with thewater lodged on the floor of the boiler.

The operation of the iron will be readily understood. The steamgenerated within the boiler during use, collects in the steam dome Dmade up of the rising wall 45 and the closure cap 46 thereof, from whichsteam passes through lateral apertures 35 in the steam tube 27 down tothe steam chamber 38 for escape through the steam holes 39 in the soleplate 16.

When it is desired to re-fill the boiler, say while the boiler is hot inthe course of use, the operator simply presses the thumb piece 61 withthe same hand that grasps the handle H, thereby to open the latch andtilts the handle backward for its heel to rest upon the heel piece lz ofthe iron base, the parts being shown only partly tilted back in dashlines in Fig. l. Thus the closure 46 with its resilient ring 58 islifted to clear the filling opening 31 and water may readily be pouredinto the boiler. Such admission occurs without ejection of hot water orsteam that might injure the user. For, the filling opening 31 is of widearea and the upper end of the steam tube being near one portion only ofthe rim 3l, affords ample admission space. The baffle plate 43 has noeffective heat storing capacity comparable to that of the sole plate sothat any cold water impinging on it will not evolve steam. ln thisfilling operation, no water from the filling opening 31 will enter thesmall lateral openings 35 of the steam tube and the bale wall 69 wouldintercept any water tending to enter laterally from the front part ofthe iron.

After filling, the handle is pivotcd back to closed position and thelatch re-closed by thumb pressure, thereby pressing the closure cap 46to seat about the i'illing wall 45, as shown in Figs. l and 2 of thedrawings, under compression of the coil spring 55.

The closure being self aligning with the frusto-conical wall and itsyielding ring 58 being of inner diameter larger than that of rim 3l, theseating of thc closure is accurate and effective, without the danger ofsaid ring striking the sharp edge of the rim 31, and the expansion ofring 58 is limited by the side wall of the closure cap, thus assuring atight seal during use.

Should steam pressure tend to develop within the boiler, it is manifestthat it will cause the closure cap 46 to rise slightly for venting andfor ready escape laterally beyond the front and sides of the base plate49 of the handle.

Upon completion of the ironing, it is desirable to empty out anyremaining water, especially `where the boiler is of aluminum which maybe subject to corrosion should water remain stagnant therein for anyprolonged period. While the water could be ejected by continuing theheating of the iron in inverted position, tilted slightly forward, andallowing the steam to force the water out through the apertures 39, thatoperation is slow and somewhat hazardous.

According to the present invention, the handle need merely be moved toopen position and the iron inverted after it has cooled, in order toallow the remaining water to escape through the opening 31, which escapeoccurs completely without any danger of trapping water as would belikely were the filling opening in the form of a depressed filling Well.Thus even though the heating element be burned out and the iron dead,the water remaining in the boiler may be readily discharged therefrom,which is all but impossible with familiary types of electric steamirons.

Thus according to the invention, a rugged electric steam iron isprovided with a minimum number of parts that are easily assembled,without the need for elaborate Welding operations, and in fact thatrequires merely ovenwelding for affording the leak-tight boilerconstruction, which affords facilities for ready and safe filling, evenwhen hot, without the need for separate filling funnels or otherauxiliary equipment or tools, which inherently precludes building uphazardous steam pressure therein, and which may readily and completelybe emptied after conclusion of the ironing operation, and withouthazard.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An electric steam iron of the type comprising a sole plate, a boileraffixed thereon and having a filling opening in the upper part thereof,a steam tube rising from the sole plate, electric heating means in heatconductive relation with both the sole plate and the boiler and a steamdome at the top of the boiler and extending over the upper end of thesteam tube; the combination in which said steam dome comprises aremovable closure and a seat therefor peripherally of said fillingopening, a carrier for said closure having a hand hold in heat insulatedrelation to said iron for manually displacing said closure to permitfilling of the boiler through said opening, and a gasket ring afixedperipherally of one of the coacting elements that constitute the steamdome closure and the seat therefor, and means upon said boilerreleasably to latch said closure carrier for maintaining a leaktightseal between the closure of said steam dome and the seat therefor.

2. The combination recited in claim 1 in which resilient means isinterposed between the carrier and the closure to permit venting rise ofthe closure under steam pressure in the boiler.

3. The combination recited in claim l in which the hand hold for theclosure carrier constitutes the insulating handle of the iron and inwhich said handle is trans versely hinged near the rear end thereof tothe iron structure.

4. The combination recited in claim 3 in which the handle constitutestwo substantially identical elements in face-to-face engagement alongthe longitudinal mid-section of the assembled handle, means releasablyassembling said handle parts into a unitary structure, the forward partof said handle being hollow and in which the carrier for said closurecomprises a plate peripherally retained in corresponding internaldepressions within said hollow portion of the handle.

5. The combination recited in claim 3 in which the handle constitutestwo substantially identical elements in face-to-face engagement alongthe longitudinal midsection of the assembled handle, means releasablyassembling said handle parts into a unitary structure, the forward partof said handle being hollow and in which said carrier comprises an axialrod rising from said closure, slidably extending through a diskperipherally retained in corresponding internal depressions within saidhollow portion of the handle, and the resilient means constitutes a coilspring encompassing said rod and nterposed between said plate and saidclosure.

The combination recited in claim 1 in which the rim of the fillingopening extends above the main area of the boiler top and in which theclosure constitutes a cap encompassing said rim and said gasket ring isaffixed within said cap closure near the rim thereof.

7. The combination recited in claim l in which the boiler top has afrusto-conical wall portion extending upward from the main area of theboiler top and presenting a circular filler opening rim for conveniencein emptying water from the boiler when the steam dome closure is in openposition.

8. The combination recited in claim 1 in which the upper end of thesteam tube is adjacent one part of the rim of the filler opening andsubstantially spaced from the diametrically opposite part thereof, andin which the upper extremity of said steam tube is closed and said steamtube presents one or more lateral openings below said closed upperextremity thereof.

9. The combination recited in claim 1 in which the upper end of thesteam tube is adjacent one part of the rim of the filler opening andsubstantially spaced from the diametrically opposite part thereof, andin which a cap closes the upper extremity of the tube, said cap havinglateral openings between its closed end and the end of the steam tube.

10. An electric steam iron comprising a sole plate, a boiler affixedthereto, electric heating means carried by said sole plate and in heatconducting relation to both said sole plate and said boiler, said boilerhaving an upturned wall portion integral therewith, rising therefrom andpresenting a filling opening above the main upper area of said boiler, asteam tube rising from said sole plate to said opening, an iron handlestructure hinged near its rear end to the rear part of the iron, aclosure for the filling opening resiliently mounted in the forward partof said handle and carrying a resilient peripheral ring for coactionwith the rim area of the filling opening, and a latch carried by thehandle structure for releasably securing the latter in operativeposition with the closure resiliently urged into seating position aboutthe filling opening to form a steam dome.

11. The combination recited in claim 10 in which the upturned portion atthe top of the boiler is of frustoconical form converging upward to thefilling rim, and in which the closure is a sheet metal cap havingtherein a ring of silicone plastic affixed near its rim and resilientlypressed in closed position about the frusto-conical filling portion.

12, In an electric steam iron, a sole plate having a steam outlet portin its lower surface, a boiler mounted on the upper surface of the soleplate and having in its upper wall a filler opening, a steam tubecommunicating at its lower end with said steam outlet port and extendingupwardly through the boiler, the upper part of said tube beingencompassed by said filler opening, an arm above the boiler pivoted atone end to the rear part of the iron structure to swing up and down inan arc relative to said boiler, a latch operable when the arm is in itslowermost position releasably to secure the free end of the arm againstupward movement away from the boiler, the forward portion of said armbeing disposed over the ller opening when the arm is thus latched down,and an inverted cup-shaped member carried by said portion of the arm,said member constructed and arranged so that it encompasses the upperend of said tube and has its lower rim in sealing engagement with theboiler around the margin of said opening when said arm is latched down,thereby to close said opening and provide an enclosed steam passagewayfrom the boiler to the upper end of the steam tube.

13. An electric steam iron comprising a sole plate, a boiler afxedthereon, electric heating means in heat conductive relation with bothsaid sole plate and said boiler, said boiler having a frusto-conicalstructure unitary therewith, rising from its top and open at the reducedupper rim thereof, a steam tube rising from the sole plate andencompassed near its upper end by said open rim, a closure cap having asilicone plastic ring secured within the rim thereof and releasablyseated about said open rim, and means affording a heat insulated handhold movably aflixed to the steam iron and resiliently mounting andserving for displacement of said closure cap from said opening forfacility of charging and discharging Water.

14. The combination recited in claim 3 in which a strut is interposedbetween the region of the latch at the top of the boiler and the floorof the boiler and is permanently secured in place at both ends thereof.

15. The combination recited in claim 1 in which a baflie plate extendsacross the forward part of the boiler, spaced from the boiler floor, amarker about the steam tube and above the baflie plate shows the fillinglevel and the baflie plate affords a channel for escape of otherwisetrapped water downward under the baie plate.

16. The combination recited in claim 15 in which the baffle plate has anupstanding ledge across its rear end, the channel is a longitudinalgroove along the baffle from the region of the marker rearward and ahollow strut rising from the floor plate to the boiler top presents alongitudinal slot through which the groove conveys otherwise trappedwater from above the baffle plate.

17. The combination recited in claim 1 in which the lling opening is atthe rim of a frusto-conical wall rising from the top of the boiler, inwhich the closure is a cap mounted for self alignment with said wall,and in which the gasket ring is mounted within the cap and is of largerinner diameter than said rim to seat about the frustoconical wall.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,475,572 Schreyer July 5, 1949

